Multicast communications are those in which one or more senders transmit a data stream or data feed to multiple different receivers using multiple different channels. That is, multicast communications include packet data feeds that are addressed to a group of destinations simultaneously. Individual packets of a multicast data feed are embedded with monotonically increasing sequence numbers, so that dropped or lost packets may be more easily detected. Currently, the embedded or encoded sequence numbers associated with multicast data packets are only analyzed to determine whether there are gaps in the data, for example, by determining which packet sequence numbers were not received by a receiver or receiving endpoint.
In multicast communications, it is desirable to measure packet latency, where latency is defined as the relative delay in delivery of the same multicast packet to different network locations. This is especially true in the field of financial market and stock exchange communications. In some aspects, receivers may even pay a premium price to guarantee receipt of exchange communications over a low latency channel. Thus, it is useful to monitor and calculate respective channel latency in real-time, for example, to diagnose and hopefully resolve communication issues. Currently, there is not a simple, inexpensive, and real-time or near real-time method of monitoring and calculating latency within a multicast network.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved methods, systems, and computer readable media for monitoring latency of multicast communications